The Farm (The Farm)

by Emily McKay

Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are—holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…

And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.

Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…

Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race...

• ISBN10: 0425257800
• ISBN13: 9780425257807
• Publish Date: 4 December 2012 (first published 1 December 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 432
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425257807

Reviews

[jeannamichel]

In the Before, everything was like it is now in the real world. Vampires sparkled in movies, instead of chowing down on human flesh in real life. But, now, monsters known as Ticks have taken over a nation in less than six months. Teenagers reside in Farms, where they are fattened like cattle to bleed dry for the Ticks outside the fence. Lily and her autistic twin, Mel, intend to escape before their 18th birthday. When Carter, a familiar face from Before, shows up and offers a way out, they take it. Now they just need to survive.

When I read what The Farm was about, I was ready to dive right in. As much as I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read another vampire book, there was something about this one which made me want to read it right away. It sounded so similar to The Daybreakers, a film made in 2009, about vampires taking over the world. In the movie, just like this book, the vampires farm the humans for blood. As much as the movie was just okay, the concept of farming humans and vampires taking over the world seemed very promising. The Farm was different in the way that it was in the perspective of one of the farm occupants. The Daybreakers trailer is below.

Emily McKay created this world filled with vampire lore. One of the most fantastic storylines with vampires I have heard in a long time. She calls them Ticks (and Tocks), just the title makes them sound remarkably unique. Her writing blew me away, from beginning to end. I wanted to continuously jump ahead because I almost couldn’t stand not knowing what was going to happen next.

Alternating point of views are sometimes not the best, if written the wrong way they can easily be confusing. However, with The Farm, the narratives were written nicely and I didn’t get lost at all. It was interesting to read about and get in the mind of an autistic girl. There are too few novels with main characters who have autism. Carter was the cliché hot boy of the group but McKay wrote him in such a way that made him seem much more than that. He was compelling and I wanted to know more about him. I enjoyed Lily’s narration the most; she would doubt herself often which was a fantastic way to get the reader to doubt what was happening as well.

The plot flowed at a good pace, not too fast and not slow at all. However, it was the action packed scenes which kept me reading for more. There were a bit of twists in The Farm but the most anticipated twist was predictable. There was a superpower talked up throughout the entire book but one minute I would understand it and the next something would throw me off. Something didn’t add up with it. The ending upset me. It seemed too rushed and I felt McKay could have slowed down in the plot. However, I am anticipating the release of the second one because McKay left it off at such an agonizing point.

The Farm was a magnificent take on vampires. As much as the vampire era is leaving for a while and dystopia has taken the world by storm, make sure you read this one. The Farm is fresh, unique, and action packed.

[Angie]

A dystopian society caused by vampires? Yes, please! It's no secret that I'm a little (or a lot) obsessed with vampires, and my love of the Dystopia genre is steadily growing, so it's no wonder that I loved The Farm! It even has multiple POVs which just adds to my love! The vampires are also most definitely not the good guys (with the exception of maybe one), which was an interesting and welcome change from the norm.

I really admired Lily. She's managing to take care of herself and her autistic sister, Melanie, and keep them safe from the Ticks and Collabs. She has so much strength and patience. I would never be able to handle her situation. Her major fault is that she's too stubborn. She doesn't want to trust anyone, but she fails to realize that she needs help to keep herself safe and therefore keep Mel safe. Her stubbornness also keeps her from listening to good advice, which at times made her annoying.

It was really interesting to get Mel's POV, too. She see things quite differently than her twin, but she understands more than Lily gives her credit for. She's a musical savant, so she often describes things in terms of music in her head, but she has trouble verbalizing her observations to Lily. Sometime it was difficult to understand exactly what she meant, but her insight was definitely appreciated.

Finally, we have Carter's POV which is annoyingly in third person. It seems like more and more authors are choosing to do this first-third flip-flop, which is frustrating. I hate it, but at least Carter's chapters were interesting. Right off the bat we learn that he's "playing" Lily and he knows stuff about her that she doesn't even know about herself. I love how Carter and Mel's chapters add things that Lily is blind to, especially since she's our main heroine.

As for the world, it's dark and dangerous. There are "farms" set up all across the country that essentially round up teenagers as cattle for The Ticks, vampires gone wrong. They apparently like the taste of teens the best because they have just the right hormone levels. No one knows what happens to the adults, and Breeders are safe, since pregnancy hormones are unpalatable. It's all very scientific which I admired and loved!

The first 250 pages take place in one day. It's a super action packed, adrenaline filled day. There's so much tension as Lily tries to escape the Farm with her twin and Carter. But getting on the other side of the fence doesn't mean they're free, in fact, there's even more danger in the abandoned regions of the countries. Then that ending...woah! The Farm is an intense read.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

The Farm was one of the most interesting take on vampire mythology and lore, that I've read in the last few years. McKay has definitely wowed and amazed me with her amazing skills at world building, spinning the mythos, and creating such a powerfully creepy and yet wonderfully suspenseful novel. To say that it's incredibly captivating, would be an understatement. The Farm was definitely gripping, fantastically compelling, and filled with originality and sense of unique style. If you're getting a little tired of vampires or thinking they're a bit played out, then this is definitely the book to bring them back to life for you - in a sense.

This story is simply unlike any other paranormal young adult novel featuring vampires that I've read. The character development and the attention to detail in the location, and character traits will definitely do wonders in capturing your attention. You just really won't want to put this book down until the last page has been turned. Vampires, "Ticks" as they're referred to in this novel, aren't the only scary element about this book. It's dark, gritty, and terrifying in so many unimaginable ways that it's not hard to get caught up in the story.

For any fan of the paranormal romance, dystopic, post-apocalyptic variety, this is the perfect book to curl up with by the window on a dark spooky night and become incredibly engrossed in. It's such an edgey, dark, and chill-inducing nightmarish world that is filled with so much unique originality that you'll be craving more. Written as a stand-alone, it's definitely a book worthy of being on your radar. I would definitely take the plunge and risk buying this one.